Ewan McGregor
Curt Wild
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Drama
Music
Almost a decade has elapsed since glam-rock superstar Brian Slade escaped the spotlight of the London scene. Now, investigative journalist Arthur Stuart is on assignment to uncover the truth behind the enigmatic Slade. Stuart, himself forged by the music of the 1970s, explores the larger-than-life stars who were once his idols and what has become of them since the turn of the new decade.
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| Release Date | 1998-08-28 |
|---|---|
| Runtime | 2h 3m |
| Directors | Todd Haynes, Maryse Alberti |
| Producers | Christine Vachon, Michael Stipe, Christopher Ball, Bob Weinstein, William Tyrer, Scott Meek, Harvey Weinstein, Olivia Stewart, Sandy Stern |
| Writers | Todd Haynes, Todd Haynes, James Lyons |
If you stop for five minutes to actually think about the plot, Velvet Goldmine falls apart, but if you just think about how off-the-charts wonderful all the individual aspects are, you'll be just fine.
Final rating:★★★½ - I strongly recommend you make the time.
— Gimly
With the swinging sixties finally on the wane, "Brian Slade" (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is starting to feel redundant. His career seems doomed - until that is, he is inspired by the potency of a "Curt Wild" (Ewan McGregor) concert and like a caterpillar to a butterfly, is reborn as the sexually ambiguous "Maxwell Demon" a glam rock icon inspiring adulation the world over. Just as he reaches his zenith, however, it all ends rather suddenly. Ten years after that shocking performance, journalist "Arthur Stuart" (Christian Bale) decides to investigate just what did happen. Todd Haynes has created quite an hedonistic display for us, here. The three lead performances - especially Meyers - really embrace the ethos of the period. The sex, drugs, rock and roll mentality where anything and everything goes is really well reflected. It's not the characters that let this down, though - it's the shambolic narrative and the initial theme just seems to become subsumed in Haynes' desire to show us something that might have been shocking then, but kind of isn't now. Shades of David Bowie, Elton john, Iggy Pop - you name it; but sadly - very little originality. Still it's enjoyable to watch and the actors keep the whole things suitably messy for what did feel like an over-long 2 hours.
— CinemaSerf